1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to object detecting apparatuses and methods, and to programs and recording media used therewith, and in particular, to an object detecting apparatus and method for accurately detecting an event while suppressing power consumption, and to a program and recording medium used therewith. The present invention also relates to monitoring systems and methods, to information processing apparatuses and methods, and to recording media and programs used therewith, and in particular, to a monitoring system and method, and to an information processing apparatus and method for identifying human actions and sending notification, and a recording medium and program used therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, for home security systems, a technique in which sensor information can be grasped by viewing a video monitor displaying monitor pictures transmitted from an image capturing device has been proposed (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-124078).
In addition, a method in which the accuracy of monitoring of an intruder is increased by using a monitoring device composed of a microwave sensor and an image sensor in combination has been proposed (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-161860).
Also, a technique (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-339554) has been proposed in which a human body entering a monitoring region is detected such that the presence of the human body and detection of an action are determined by a monitoring device composed of an infrared sensor and an image sensor in combination.
Moreover, a technique in which an abnormality in a monitoring region is detected by a monitoring camera system having a plurality of intelligent cameras and in which detected video and sound are recorded or played back has been proposed (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-212748).
In the inventions disclosed in the above three Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications, only a particular abnormality (event) is detected.
In the invention as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-124078, the image capturing device has a problem in that its battery only has a short life since it is continuously battery-driven to constantly transmit pictures and sound, etc.
The technology as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-161860 has a problem in that it is impossible to accurately detect information such as the direction along which the intruder is moving and whether the intruder is approaching or going away.
In each invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 8-124078, 2000-339554, and 7-212748, a human body entering the monitoring region can be detected, but there is a problem in that the action (for example, whether the person is approaching or going away) by the human body cannot be identified.
As is clear, for example, by using a video camera to perform constant monitoring, the action can be identified. However, this technique causes large power consumption, so that it is difficult to apply this technique to battery-driven systems.